Second chance romance between once married people is always tough to tackle, and one of the tropes I'm most fascinated by. Mona Shroff pulls it off by bringing Nikhil and Anita together at his sister's wedding. And conveniently, his mom failed to tell most of the family they got divorced, fearing how it would reflect on her. After the shocking initial, "What is SHE doing here?" moment, they've just got to get through the next 5 days of festivities.

Loved the forced proximity, the Indian wedding details, the complicated family dynamics and the little bit of soapy drama with one of Nikhil's past girlfriends.. But I especially loved seeing these two have their own realizations about how their behavior contributed to the end of their marriage.

At points it does feel like the story is missing details or is focusing on the wrong thing. E.g. there's a quick left turn in the middle of the wedding where Anita takes off to deal with a family law advocacy case, and it takes up pages that might have been better used to fill in the details about their brief marriage.

3.5 stars

Steam level; Closed door.
CW: death of a parents in a car accident, side character miscarriage

This is a new-to-me author and the culture the characters are from is one I don’t know a whole lot about. I’m always interested in learning more about other cultures, especially the way they integrate into living in the United States. When the first-generation Americans are still very much alive and part of the story, but the main characters are second or third generation and are expected to straddle so many different expectations. In this story, I didn’t feel the main characters were pulled in too many directions with these expectations, but Nikhil’s mom sure was. And that’s what got everyone into so much trouble.

This a beautiful second-chance romance with a bunch of forced-proximity and fake spouse thrown into the mix. Nikhil’s mom never told the rest of the family that he had gotten divorced from Anita and here it is his little sister’s big wedding celebration. Five days of festivities where Anita will be expected to be in attendance. Anita and Nikhil have not talked, let alone seen each other, in years. It hurts too much. They were still very much in love when they divorced, only they didn’t talk things out so they don’t really know that. There is a lot of hurt and baggage for them to wade through. Not that either is really thinking they’re going to do that. They just want to act their part, keep Nikhil’s mom and grandfather happy, and go on their way. Neither can handle the heartbreak a second time.

We all know how plans like this tend to go. There is too strong of a connection between Anita and Nikhil for them to not fall into old habits and buried feelings. While I always felt that connection, and even a low simmer of heat, there was only once where I felt the full-on butterflies and fireworks of this couple. But that works for this story. It’s more about them finding their way back to each other and learning how to properly communicate. The chemistry and caring were there, they just needed to dig a bit.

I thoroughly enjoyed the imagery of the wedding celebrations; the clothes and food and entertainment. The author blended the story with the setting in such a way that I felt as though I learned a lot without feeling like I was being schooled. She is certainly an author I will be reading more from.

I received an ARC from the publisher and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
This is a sweet, fun multicultural romance. The premise is great, with a divorced couple agreeing to pretend to still be married for the duration of a family wedding. Both Nikhil and Anita are lovely, and while they did have legitimate issues that led to their divorce, they still have sparks between them, making it easy to fake that nothing happened between them. Shroff embeds the story with cultural details about the wedding and family traditions, as well as getting you invested in the different familial bonds that will likely carry over throughout the rest of the series. However, she never neglects her main couple and their sizzling chemistry.
I really enjoyed this fun, cozy read, and I’m excited for more from this series!

Thank you so much to Harlequin for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a decent second-chance romance story. I’ve never read a second chance romance in which the main couple was already divorced, and it was pretty interesting to see Anita and Nikhil navigating the aftermath of their marriage and divorce--the gravity of the situation was definitely much higher. That being said, I feel like there was a lot we weren’t told about their relationship and marriage prior to when the story started and it made me confused about how their relationship had progressed. The moments in which the two fondly reminisce about their pasts as husband and wife also felt a little repetitive. It seemed like there were 5 recurring things that the two of them would keep bringing up about their past, and that was it, which made it hard to believe in their relationship. I also found the pacing of the novel to be off? The timeline of the “five day reunion” felt disconnected, and I think I would have appreciated a clearer timeline of events. Otherwise, I really liked the themes of family, especially the sibling dynamic between Nikhil and Tina, and Anita and Amar, and I’m excited for Amar and Divya’s story next!

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and words are my own.

So in concept-I really enjoyed this book. There are so few books written about people who have already been married and I immediately gobbled it up just based off the premise. I loved the way the Mona took the reader through Indian wedding festivities. Additionally, I really enjoyed the story, I liked Nihkil and Anita as characters and watching their dynamic.

However on the flip side, ons of the things I really struggled with in this book was the way it was written. I’m not sure what the authors intended flow of words was-but I personally didn’t mesh well with it and found it choppy most of the time.

Additionally there were some sections in the book that just didn’t make sense-such as their first kiss in the middle of the Garba. It just felt like a clunky scene and I really wish it had been more filled out before the abrupt scene change.

All in all it was an above average story line with (difficult for me) writing. I definitely am looking forward to future writings from Mona.

A very delightful second chance/fake relationship romance! It's low-spice but highly emotional, with lots of likeable secondary characters, and I adore the cover. I generally don't care for a jealous ex character who shows up to throw a wrench into everything, but I have to admit the denouement of that subplot was rather satisfying. I was rooting hard for Anita and Nikhil and very much look forward to reading the next book in the series. I'll definitely be recommending this title for addition to the library's collection.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

TWs: death of loved ones, divorce, mention of miscarriage

Rep: South Asian MCs

I read this book in one sitting so I basically devoured it. I initially picked it up because one of my bookstagram, now real-life friends shared it. Of course, I found the cover swoon-worthy and I’m always on the lookout for South Asian romances, specifically adult ones now that that’s the category I fall into.

I found both Anita and Nikhil to be quite likable and realistic characters. They each had their own backstory and set of characteristics that meshed well together. They each had their flaws, but they acknowledged them. I thought their chemistry was definitely a highlight, but more than that, I found the moments in which they were reminiscing about the past or replicating doing something from the past in the present moment very sweet. Romance doesn’t always have to be the whole Bollywood shebang (something I love as much as the next Brown person). I find every day, smaller moments more intimate and something that I personally crave in a relationship. Things like cooking together or having conversations about one’s likes/dislikes.

I loved the forced proximity of course and that the timeline was over a five day period of Nikhil’s sister Tina’s wedding. The wedding festivities were described with such vigor and it made me miss going to Indian weddings greatly.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed about this book was the family ties and rifts between family members. I found all of the reasons that Nikhil resented his family to be honest and similar to feelings a lot of South Asian immigrant children feel. Many of the reasons that Nikhil didn’t get along with his brother Rocky was due to the interior pressure he felt having to be successful in his career especially because he felt like the black sheep of the family (not a lawyer like the rest of his siblings and parents).

I appreciated the commentary on Anita and Nikhil’s mom very powerful as well. Being that they are both women of color who are pursuing careers in law while still taking care of their family is something to admire. However, when it comes to the South Asian community, people will continue to ask why they don’t make enough time for family, why they don’t have kids yet, etc.

Being a woman of color in any male-dominated field is already a difficult task without getting hounded by the community about what you should or should not be doing better.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it!

Characters: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Plot: 6/10
Intrigue: 7/10
Logic: 6/10
Enjoyment: 8/10

Rating: 7.0 or 4 stars

I absolutely adored this book. It fulfilled so many of my favorite tropes and had me turning the pages anxious to see how the happily ever after would work out.

Shroff is one of my favorite Indian Own Voices authors because she writes authentic, loveable stories that allow me to escape but also teach me more about the culture. It is especially fun learning about the culture surrounding weddings.

I really loved the realistic character flaws that Nikhil and Anita had. The storyline was very believable because it was easy to relate to the family dynamics and situations even if I haven't experienced the exact same thing.

The fake relationship and forced proximity in this book was amazing. I appreciate that while Shroff doesn't write explicit scenes she does make it clear in a clean way what is happening behind the mostly closed doors. The chemistry in this book was really good and I loved the romantic moments so much.

I really loved that Shroff basically took her characters down to their most desperate in this book and helped them dig back out. I cannot wait to see what Amar's story brings us!

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I love how the world of romance is becoming more diverse and featuring different cultures.
I love this second chance story featuring Indian characters and setting.
The family dynamics, the characters and the setting are fascinating and I love how the author explained what was going on.
I rooted for the characters, had a lot of fun and was hooked till the last page.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Harlequin Special Edition and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Five-Day Reunion is a fake relationship romance between a divorced couple, so it isn't hard to see the second chance coming. Anita and Nikhil certainly have plenty of tension between them - I mean, they didn't divorce without a reason, so they have some stuff to work out, and a wedding is a pretty good place to remember what brought them together in the first place. The story has a good pace, and while there is some angst, it's tempered with a fun and entertaining storyline. This is my first time reading Mona Shroff, but it won't be my last. I enjoyed this one, and it's great for curling up on the couch for an afternoon's escape.

Solid Second Chance Romance. This is one of those second chance / forced proximity / fake dating types of romance tales, all combined during a five day traditional Indian wedding celebration. The angst between the two leads is palpable, and their own individual motivations are solidly grounded. The Indian family interventions - and ensuing irritating (for the characters) hilarity (for the readers) hijinx - are well done, and Shroff does well to explain the various ceremonies reasonably well in-story so that those not familiar with them can follow along and not get lost in the story, yet not so much that it becomes an academic treatise on each ceremony. Overall a fun, funny, and short-ish (220 ish page) romance that gives a solid break from reality for many, and really... isn't that most of what we expect a book to do? Very much recommended.